Circuit interrupter



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. E- FLORSCHUTZ ET AL CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER May 29, 1956Filed Aug. 4, 1951 km Q Q. 5 m G 3 z.

INVENTORS Fritz E. Florschuiz and Carl G.Len'l' yes.

ATTORN y 1956 F. E. FLORSCHUTZ ET AL 2,748,209

CIRCUIT INTERRUPTER Filed Aug. 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WITNESSES:INVENTORS g%77%% Fritz E. schutz 21M) Co .Len'rjes.

% ATTORN amazes crnctnr INTERRUPTER Fritz E. Florschutz and Carl G.Lentjes, Pittsburgh, Pa,

assignors to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application August l,-1951, Serial No.240,368

12 Claims. (Cl. 200-18) This invention relates to circuit interruptersand more particularly to circuit interrupters of the oil break typewhich are adapted for the control of large capacity power transmissioncircuits.

An object of the invention is to "provide a circuit interrupter having aplurality of intercommunicating interru'pter receptacles embodying a rodcommon to all of said receptacles disposed for straight-line motion, therodhaving anti-friction means between said receptacles which also serveas bafiles to prevent transmission of oil and gas between thereceptacles.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth in particular in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to structure and operation, together withadditional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood fromthe following detail description of one'embodirnent thereof when read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings:

Figure l is an elevational view partially in section showing the pullrod extending through the upper portions of 'the receptacles of a threepole interrupter,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view ofthe receptacles of one of thepoles showing the'pull rod and operating linkage for the moving contactmeans,

Fig. '3 is an elevational view partially in sectio'nof one 'pole unit ofthe interrupter embodying the principles of the invention,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 1, one of thespherical segments being shown in elevation,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is adetail sectional view of the adjustable accelerating spring and thehousing therefor.

The circuit interrupter is of the three-pole type and 'each pole ishoused in a receptacle or tank 11 substantially filled with oil andhaving a common pull rod 13 extending horizontally through the upperportions of the tanks 11 'fo'roperating the movable contact structure ineach of the tanks.

The contact structure for each of the pole units includes stationarycontact means 15 (Fig. 3) rigidly secured tot'he lower ends of terminalbushings 17 and a cooperating movable bridging contact member 19 rigidlysecured to the lower end of a lift rod 21. The upper end of the lift rod21 is pivotallyconnected to an operating linkage indicated generally at22. The operating linkage 22 includes a triangular floating lever 25 toone arm 23 of which the lift rod 21 is connected. A second arm 27 of thelever 25 is pivotally connected to one end of a link :29 and the thirdarm 31 of the lever 25 is pivotally connected to one end of a link 33.The other ends of the links 29 and 33 are pivotally mounted respectivelyon fixed pivot pins 35 and 37 supported in a frame comprising'a pair ofspaced plates 39 (Figs. 2 and 3 rigidly supp'orte'din' the top of thetank 11. i

The lift rod 21 is guided in its vertical reciprocating movement bymeans of a guide bar 41 rigidly secured'to a cross bar 4-3 supported bythe spaced plates 39. The bifurcated lower end of the guide bar 41straddles the lift rod 21 and has a pin 55 secured in the forks thereofto guide the rod 21 in its movement.

The link 33 for each of the operating linkages 22 is connected by meansof a link 27 to the pull rod 13. The pull rod i3 may be made in onepiece or, for convenience in assembly it may be made in sections asillustrated in Pig. 1, with the sections connected together to form asingle rod. At its right-hand end (Fig. 1) the pull rod 13 is providedwith an adjustable accelerating spring device shown generally at 49(Figs. 1 and 6) and the lefthand end of the pull rod 13 is connected bymeans of a link 51 (Figs. 1 and 2) to one arm of a bell crank 53,

'the other arm of which is connected to the upper end of trip-free meanspermits high-speed opening and quick'reclosing of the circuit breaker.

The bell crank 53 (Fig. 2) is pivotally supported on a shaft 57 which ismounted in the side members of a housing 59. The housing 59 is mountedon one end of a frame work partially shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which alsosupports the tanks 11, comprising generally horizontal side members 61(only one being shown), cross members 63 and vertical supporting membersor legs 65 only two of which are shown.

The pull rod 13 (Fig. 1) extends through each of the tanks 11 and isarranged for true straight-line reciprocat ing'movement to actuate theoperating linkage 22 in each of the tanks to effect opening and closingmovement of the lift rod 21 and movable contact member 19 in each of thetanks. As shown, the pull rod, for conveniencein assembly, isconstructed in three parts 13a, 13b and 13c which are connected as shownat 7 for unitary movement.

The pull rod 13 is supported for true straight-line movement by means ofbearings or rollers 69 in tubes 71,

there being a tube 71 welded in an opening in each of the tanks 11. inaxial alignment with the tubes 71 are tubes '73 which Welded in openingsin each of the tanks 11 are coupled with the tubes 71 by means ofcouplings 75. The coupling 75 comprises a tubular member 77 having aninternal annular stop ring 79 against which the tubes 71 and 73 abut.Cap nuts 81 .are threaded on each end of the tubular members and havegaskets 83 disposed be tween the flanges of the nuts 31 and the ends ofthe tubular member to form a sealed joint between the tanks 11.

A sealed joint of somewhat dilierent form is provided between theleft-hand tank 11 (Figs. 1 and 2) and the bell crank housing 59. Acup-shaped cylindrical member 35 is welded to the housing 59 surroundingan opening 87 therein through which the pull rod 13 passes. The end wallof the member is also provided with an opening which surrounds the pullrod 13 with a very small clearance. Welded to the cup-shaped members 85is a coupling 89 surrounding the associated tube 71 and having a cap nut91 thereon. A gasket is disposed between the cap nut 91 and the end ofthe coupling '89 to form a sealed joint. A gasket 93 surrounding thepull rod13 is secured to the inner wall of the cup-shaped member 85 toform an oil and gas seal between the left-handtan. 11 and the bellcrankhousing 59.

The rollers 69 each comprises a pair of spherical segments 95 (Fig. 4)disposed in the tube 71, one on each side of the pull rod 13 so as tosubstantially fill the crosssectional area of the tube. Each segment 95has a trunnion 97 thereon extending into an opening in the pull rod 13to support the pull rod in its reciprocating movement. Each of thespherical segments 95 has a narrow slightly raised ring portion 99adjacent the pull rod 13 to provide a limited bearing surface forsupporting the segments and the pull rod on the inner surface of thetube 71. In addition to supporting the pull rod 13 for truestraightline, reciprocating movement, the spherical segments 95substantially fill the cross-sectional area of the tubes 71 to provide agas and oil batfie between the tanks 11.

The accelerating spring device 49 (Figs. 1 and 6) comprises a powerfulcompression spring 101 compressed between a cross bar m3 mounted on theplates 3h of the right-hand pole unit (Fig. 1) and a washer res (Fig. 6)supported by an adjusting nut 197 screwed onto the threaded end of thepull rod. The accelerating spring 101 and adjusting nut M7 are enclosedin a sealed housing comprising a tube N9 welded in an opening in theright-hand tank 11 and a tube 111 having one end abutting against theouter end of the tube 199 and the other end closed. The tubes 1%9 and11.1 are maintained in the position shown in Fig. 6 and the joint sealedby means of a coupling 113 similar to the couplings 75 joining the tubes'71 and 73 between the tanks but without the stop ring 79. The coupling113 comprises a coupling member 115 surrounding the joint of the tubes169 and 111 and having cap nuts 117 threaded onto the ends thereof.

Gaskets 119 are compressed between the flanges of the cap nuts 117 andthe ends of the coupling member 115 to form a tight seal.

The tension of the accelerating spring 101 is adjustable by means of theadjusting nut 1W] which is accessible by backing off the outer cap nut117 and withdrawing the sealed tube 111. After the adjustment is made,the tube 111 together with the gasket 119 is replaced and the cap nut117 drawn up to seal the joint between the tubes.

Additional accelerating spring force may be applied to the pull rod, asrequired, by the provision of one or more additional springs inside ofone or more of the tanks 11, only one of such springs being shown inFig. 1 of the drawings. It will be understood that additionalaccelerating springs may be applied in one or all of the tanks asrequired.

The additional accelerating spring means comprises a compression spring121 compressed between the inner wall of one of the tanks 11 and aspring seat 123 more clearly shown in Fig. 5. The spring seat 123 isattached to the pull rod 13 by a pair of spaced brackets 125 welded orotherwise suitably secured to the spring seat 123 and mounted on the pin48 which pivotally connects the links 47 to the pull rods.

When the operating rod 55 is released upon operation of the trip means,such as is fully disclosed in the aforementioned Patent No. 2,403,082,in response to abnormal circuit conditions, the accelerating springs 101and 121 (Fig. 1) move the pull rod 13 at high speed and in a truestraight line toward the right. This movement of the pull rod 13 actsthrough the connecting links 47 for all of the pole units to move eachsupporting link 33 clockwise (Fig. 2) t the position shown in dottedlines. This action moves each floating lever downward causing firstclockwise and then counterclockwise movement of the supporting links 29effecting a true straight-line downward movement of the lift rod 21 ineach of the pole units to simultaneously separate the bridging contactmembers 19 (Fig. 3) from the stationary contacts 15 of each of the poleunits.

The interrupter is closed following an opening operation by the poweroperating means 56 (Fig. 1) which, when energized, pulls downwardly onthe operating rod 55. This movement of the operating rod 55, transmittedthrough the bell crank 53 and link 51, draws the pull rod 13 toward theleft (Figs. 1 and 2). This movement of it the pull rod through the links47 reverses the movement of the operating linkages 22 to raise the liftrods 21 and close the contact means for each of the pole units. Themoving parts are decelerated at the ends of the opening and closingoperations respectively by suitable shock absorbers 127 and 129 (Fig.2).

It will be seen that the hearings or rollers 69 support the pull rod fortrue, straight-line motion, reduce the friction of the movement of thepull rod and form substantial gas and oil baffles between the tanks andbetween the bell crank housing and the adjacent tank.

Having described the invention in accordance with the provisions of thepatent statutes, it is to be understood that various changes andmodifications may be made in the structural details and combination ofelements disclosed without departing from some of the essential featuresof the invention.

We claim as our invention:

1. in a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality of enclosedreceptacles, bearing means forming closed passages between saidreceptacles, a member extending through said receptacles and saidbearing means, roller means in each of said bearing means supportingsaid member for straight-line reciprocating movement, said roller meanssubstantially closing each of said bearing means to thereby form bafiiessubstantially preventing flow through said bearing means from one toanother of said receptacles.

2. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofreceptacles, tubular bearing means having imperforate walls extendingbetween said receptacles, a member extending through said receptaclesand said tubular bearing means, supporting means for said membercomprising a pair of spherical segments disposed one on each side ofsaid member in said tubular bearing each of means supporting said memberfor straight-line reciprocating movement, said spherical segmentstogether with said member substantially closing each of said tubularbearing means to form a bafiie between said receptacles.

3. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofinterrupter enclosing receptacles, each of said interrupters having arod attached thereto disposed for vertical straight-line movement,tubular bearing means having an imperforate wall extending between thewalls of adjacent receptacles, a reciprocating member extending throughall of said receptacles and said tubular bearing means, anti-frictionmeans in each of said tubular bearing means supporting saidreciprocating member between adjacent receptacles for horizontalstraight-line movement, said anti-friction means forming bafiies betweenadjacent receptacles, and a linkage in each of said receptaclesconnected to said reciprocating member and to said rod for translatingthe horizontal straight-line movement of said reciprocating member tovertical straight-line movement of said rod.

4. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofinterrupter enclosing tanks, imperforate tubular bearing means disposedbetween the walls of adjacent tanks, a pull rod extending through all ofsaid tanks and through said tubular bearings, supporting means in eachof said tubular bearings between the walls of adjacent tanks supportingsaid pull rod for straight-line movement, said supporting meanscomprising a pair of spherical segments disposed on opposite sides ofsaid pull rod, each of said spherical segments having bearing meanssupporting said pull rod, said pull rod and said spherical segmentssubstantially closing said tubular bearing means.

5. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofinterrupter enclosing tanks, means defining closed passages extendingonly between the walls of adjacent tanks, a pull rod extending throughsaid tanks and through said passages, stored energy means connected tosaid pull rod for moving said rod in one direction to effect opening ofsaid interrupter, means connected to said pull rod for moving said rodin the opposite direction to effect closing of said interrupter, rollersdisposed in each of said passages mounting said pull rod in saidpassages between adjacent receptacles for straightline movement, andsaid rollers substantially closing said passages to form bafiles betweensaid tanks.

6. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofinterrupter enclosing receptacles, hollow members having imperforatewalls extending between adjacent receptacles, a pull rod extendingthrough said receptacles and said hollow enclosed members, bearing meanssupporting said pull rod in said hollow enclosed members for truestraight-line reciprocating movement, and means connected to said pullrod for actuating said pull rod to efiect opening and closing of saidinterrupter.

7. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality of enclosedreceptacles, communicating means forming closed passages extendingbetween the walls of adjacent receptacles, a pull rod extending throughsaid receptacles and said communicating means, bearing means comprisingrollers supporting said pull rod in said communicating means betweensaid receptacles for true straight-line movement, stored energy meansdisposed to move said pull rod in one direction to efiect opening ofsaid interrupter, and means connected to said pull rod for moving saidpull rod in the opposite direction to effect closing of saidinterrupter.

8. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofinterrupter enclosing receptacles, each of said interrupters having alift rod attached thereto disposed for true vertical straight linemovement, tubular means having imperforate walls extending only betweenthe walls of adjacent receptacles, a reciprocating pull rod extendingthrough all of said receptacles and said tubular means, bearing meanssupporting said pull rod in said tubular means for true horizontalstraight-line movement, and a linkage in each of said receptaclesconnected to said pull rod for translating the true horizontalstraight-line movement of said pull rod to true vertical straight-linemovement of said lift rod.

9. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of an enclosing tank,bearing means comprising tubular members having imperforate walls onopposite sides of said tank, a pull rod extending through said enclosingtank and said bearing means for operating said interrupter, rollersdisposed in said bearing means at opposite sides of said enclosing tanksupporting said pull rod for straight line motion, said rollers and saidpull rod substantially closing said bearing means to form baffles ateach side of said enclosing tank.

10. In a multi-pole circuit interrupter comprising a plurality of poleunits, housing means for said interrupter having barrier meansseparating said pole units, bearing means comprising tubular membershaving imperforate walls disposed between said pole units, a pull rodextending through said pole units and through said hearing means foroperating said pole units, and rollers in said bearing means betweensaid pole units supporting said pull rod for straight line reciprocatingmotion.

11. In a multi-pole circuit interrupter comprising a plurality of poleunits, housing means for enclosing said interrupter and having barriermeans separating said pole units, imperforate tubular bearing meansmounted in said barrier means forming closed passages between said poleunits, a pull rod extending through said pole units and through saidtubular bearings for operating said pole units, rollers disposed in saidbearings between said pole units supporting said pull rod for straightline reciprocating motion.

12. In a circuit interrupter, the combination of a plurality ofinterrupter enclosing receptacles, each of said interrupters having arod disposed for up and down movement, tubular bearing means adjacentthe walls of adjacent receptacles, a reciprocating member extendingthrough all of said receptacles and said tubular bearing means, saidtubular bearing means supporting said reciproeating member forhorizontal straight-line movement, and a linkage in each of saidreceptacles connected to said reciprocating member and to said rod fortranslating the horizontal straight-line movement of said reciprocatingmember to up and down movement of said rod, said linkage including aplurality of movable members, one of which is a bodily movable linksupported entirely by being pivoted to said reciprocating member at apoint which moves in a horizontal straight line and by being pivoted toanother movable member of the linkage at a movable point.

References Cited in the fie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 867,283Mann Oct. 1, 1907 1,293,842 MacDonald Feb. 11, 1919 1,600,400Christofferson Sept. 21, 1926 1,737,636 Burnham Dec. 3, 1929 2,357,603Pinkham et a1. Sept. 5, 1944 2,452,117 Ferger Oct. 26, 1948

